Special things to do in SF? For a holiday present ....

[Circe]

Hey, guys! Mr. Circe is a big "experience" fan: he tends to wince whenever he sees anything gift-wrapped. Since we''re going to be in San Francisco over the holidays, I''m looking for an awesome "experience" gift to give to him. Would y''all have any suggestions? I''m in town for a conference just after Christmas, and we''ll be staying through the first week of January, if that makes a difference for any seasonal events.

 

[brooklyngirl]

Hi Circe, I''m not familiar with any special events, but there are glider rides in the bay area.
http://www.bayareagliderrides.com/

FI and I went on a glider once, (not in the bay area though) and it was amazing. If you''re not squeamish about flying, the glider pilots often execute some interesting manuvers

 

[Circe]

Oh, wow! That looks absolutely terrifying - and I''ve been wanting to parachute, hang-glide, etc. all my life. Mr. Circe actually *has* parachuted, and loved it - though he said it was a little boring, so this may be right up his alley. Thanks for the suggestion! What was it LIKE?

 

[trillionaire]

Indoor Skydiving is pretty reasonable in price, and a lot less scary than the real thing SO and I went skydiving for my 23 b-day and it was a blast!

 

[Circe]

Oh, my - now *I* want to do that! These are awesome suggestions, keep ''em coming ... and, for anybody who''s familiar with San Francisco in general, I''d also appreciate pointers to cool restaurants, shows, museums, galleries, etc. - we''re definitely daredevils, but I''m giving my first MLA presentation. That''s enough adrenaline for anybody! These will be, like, bonus endorphins.

 

[AmberGretchen]

The new Academy of Sciences and the remodeled De Young Museum are both supposed to be very nice. There are also outdoor skating rinks in Embarcadero Center and Union Square that you could try out if you like ice skating.

A lot of the experiences in SF center around food (and wine) - maybe you could get your DH a fancy dinner at a nice restaurant (like Gary Danko?) that has tasting menus. Alternatively, you could do a "best of" cheap ethnic food tour of the city - that is more my speed, personally, and to try some of the local, fun, more out-of-the-way places.

Some of my faves for that include:

Aperto - killer Italian on Potrero Hill
Silver Spoon Thai - looks little and like nothing from the outside, really tasty Thai food
New Ganges Vegetarian Indian - this is a hilarious place, the guy who runs it is so funny, and he will come and tell you what sauces to have on stuff and explain the whole menu to you and bring you samples and stuff
Enoshima Sushi - little hole in the wall on Chestnut St, pretty place to wander, yummy cheap sushi
Lovejoy''s Tea Room - great afternoon tea, very eclectic, they have an antiques shop across the road that sells all kinds of cute, random stuff

Anyway, that''s just a short list, but I think one of the fun things to do in SF is just explore all the different neighborhoods.

The other thing I guess you could consider is a day trip (or even an overnight) up to Wine Country - not sure what your schedule is like, but Sonoma and the Russian River Valley are cheap and quiet this time of year

 

[mia1181]

Date: 11/25/2008 5:31:03 PM
Author: AmberGretchen
The new Academy of Sciences and the remodeled De Young Museum are both supposed to be very nice. There are also outdoor skating rinks in Embarcadero Center and Union Square that you could try out if you like ice skating.

A lot of the experiences in SF center around food (and wine) - maybe you could get your DH a fancy dinner at a nice restaurant (like Gary Danko?) that has tasting menus. Alternatively, you could do a ''best of'' cheap ethnic food tour of the city - that is more my speed, personally, and to try some of the local, fun, more out-of-the-way places.

Some of my faves for that include:

Aperto - killer Italian on Potrero Hill
Silver Spoon Thai - looks little and like nothing from the outside, really tasty Thai food
New Ganges Vegetarian Indian - this is a hilarious place, the guy who runs it is so funny, and he will come and tell you what sauces to have on stuff and explain the whole menu to you and bring you samples and stuff
Enoshima Sushi - little hole in the wall on Chestnut St, pretty place to wander, yummy cheap sushi
Lovejoy''s Tea Room - great afternoon tea, very eclectic, they have an antiques shop across the road that sells all kinds of cute, random stuff

Anyway, that''s just a short list, but I think one of the fun things to do in SF is just explore all the different neighborhoods.

The other thing I guess you could consider is a day trip (or even an overnight) up to Wine Country - not sure what your schedule is like, but Sonoma and the Russian River Valley are cheap and quiet this time of year

I was just going to say the California Acadamy of Sciences. Not as exciting as a glider, but it is pretty cool and I have been wanting to go there so bad. It''s the ultimate science museum with an aquarium, 3 story rainforest and a new planetarium. My DH is a scientist so we are totally into that stuff. If you go make sure you buy tickets in advance as the sell out since it just opened.

Here''s a pic of the roof of one part of the building, pretty cool.

 

[movie zombie]

it doesn''t get any better than this....or so my hubby thinks:

http://www.airshipventures.com/

the remodeled deyoung is excellent....go up to the observation tower. go out to the legion and see more art and spectacular views of the city and the bridge.

believe it or not the comic museum downtown and around the corner from the modern museum is small but lots of fun and good...even for me, not just my hubby. the asian is also a goos museum.

movie zombie

 

[brooklyngirl]

Date: 11/25/2008 10:48:37 AM
Author: Circe
Oh, wow! That looks absolutely terrifying - and I've been wanting to parachute, hang-glide, etc. all my life. Mr. Circe actually *has* parachuted, and loved it - though he said it was a little boring, so this may be right up his alley. Thanks for the suggestion! What was it LIKE?

I would think it's less terrifying than falling out of a plane, or falling off a cliff on a hand-glider

It was quite an interesting experience. The glider itself is teeeny tiny with a ridiculously long wing span, devoid of any electronics or engine, and is completely controlled by several levers on the front/sides of the cockpit.

The pilot sits in front, and the ride takers have to squeeze themselves into the teeeny tiny backseat that's meant for one person. We we definitely smushed in there, and I'm an ~8 in street clothes, while FI is very skinny (you'd think I starve him if you met him).

The glider is attached to a small prop with a rope, the prop pulls you to the desired altitude, and sort of drops you, once there. Once you're dropped, the pilot proceeds with a demonstration on Newtonian physics

If your DH is anything like my FI (and it appears that he is) he'll love the glider.

trillionaire - That looks really cool. I want to go!